Category: Book Reviews FOR EVERYONE (General Interest)

Roxal has spent her life using her Dream Traveler ability in service to Trebor’s gods, The Keepers. Even after she learns they aren’t all powerful like she was taught, she dutifully continues to manipulate an Earth woman named Lauren to do their bidding. Roxal’s content pretending to be a loyal follower, until her mate’s activities with a rebel faction put both of their lives in jeopardy.

Meanwhile on Earth . . . Lauren discovers that not only do aliens exist, but that she’s been in contact with one for most of her life. And that’s just for starters.

Now Lauren’s world is turned upside down. And Roxal has to figure out if she can harness the survival instincts which before told her to hide and use it to now fight for her survival.

The Heaviness of Knowing is an Excellent Debut Novel in a Classic Sci-fi Tradition!

This fantastic debut novel is very enjoyable and well written. The stars of the story are two young black women, Roxal and Lauren, who are growing up in two different universes. They are complex characters, beautiful, intelligent and determined to make a difference in their worlds. The story line is multi-faceted and multi layered. .

Although it started slow, by the time I made it 1/3 of the way into the book I LITERALLY could not put the book down. Ms. Brown skillfully and methodically builds her 2 worlds, one on planet earth and one elsewhere. By the time the book ended I was immersed in Roxal’s universe and had such a palpable feeling of having visited her world and experiencing it first-hand. Ms. Brown’s writing and her world building are reminiscent of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game and other classic sci-fi stories. The two main protagonists have strength of character and mind. Both are motivated by kindness and love. I am pretty sure these 2 young women will end up becoming the salvation of both Earth and Roxal’s world.

At least that is what I am hoping! I am very excited to read the next one and will not miss it!!!!

“I love you forever…As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be,” or

“As long as I’m living, your or your mommy I’ll be.”

This line, or something close to this, is repeated on every page. This phrasing sounds to me like it REALLY SAYS, “I will love you forever. . . Well, not REALLY FOREVER but at least until I die. Until I die I will love you and we will be baby and mommy and I WISH it was forever but I WILL DIE so our love and our close relationship WILL END. But until then I love you SO much.”

The story line reinforces this showing a timeline beginning with a young mother singing this to her son throughout his life. Eventually the son grows up and lives in his own house with his own baby. At the end the mother is elderly. The son drives to his elderly mom’s house, creeping into her room and singing a version of the song to his mom. I don’t remember the exact words and can’t look it up because I hid my copy at the top of my bookshelf so that my kids don’t ask me to read it to them. The language is there, of course, referring to someone’s “as long as I’m living” finite life period. In the context of his visit to his mother I find it implied that she is dying or it is a reminder that she is old and will die. After that, the man goes home and sings the song to his baby.

To me, this story portrays a heartbreaking love between parent and child. EVERY TIME this deep love and parent-child love relationship is mentioned there is always the limiting condition that this love and bond lasts for a finite time period, “as long as I’m living.”